Working with cancer: How to tell your boss and plan around it

Cancer presents massive challenges, in life generally, but also in the
workplace. What to tell your boss? What to tell your staff, if you are the
boss? Josephine Fairley discovers an excellent advice booklet that
helps deal with the difficult questions

Diagnosed with cancer: What happens when you need to tell work? How do you do it? Will they hold your job for you?Photo: ALAMY

Happily, we no longer live in an age where a cancer diagnosis is kept secret, discussed only in hushed whispers and leaving cancer sufferers feeling stigmatised. Thanks to initiatives like Pink Ribbon, Macmillan’s Coffee Morning caffeine-and-cakeathon, and The Moonwalk (in which everyone flaunts a specially-decorated bra) – among all sorts of other charitable profile-raisers – cancer’s out, loud and proud, in 2014. Just this week we had World Cancer Day.

But after the initial and invariably devastating diagnosis, cancer presents massive challenges, in life generally, but also in the workplace. What to tell your boss? What to tell your staff, if you are the boss? What to tell your colleagues – who will hopefully say they’re happy to shoulder some of your workload, to help you through the tricky phases of a) surgery, and b) chemo and radiotherapy, if required. (‘Oh, you might just feel a little tired,’ friends have been told – and duly planned to work through their treatment – only to find themselves poleaxed and basically unable to get off the sofa, let alone attend strategy or board meetings, or meet deadlines.) But at the same time, they’re feeling scared: heck, never mind the extra workload; will you actually survive..? (The answer to which is: well, the stats are better than ever, but will I be one of the lucky ones …? Who knows.)

It may seem strange to even think about work when you've just been told you've got cancer. But many doctors – and patients – say that sticking to routine as much as possible is key to recovery. People diagnosed with cancer need to know that work treats them just as seriously as before.

Unlike maternity leave, however, cancer in the workplace is incredibly hard to plan for, and around. And I suspect that even though discrimination against those with cancer (and HIV, for that matter) is completely illegal, it still sometimes happens. You’re being lined up for a promotion to fill an empty role, and you find a lump. The lump turns out not to be one of the countless benign lumps which cause just as many palpitations as cancerous ones, but the real thing, turning every aspect of your world – not just your worklife – on its axis. I’d love to think that any and every boss would hold that role open, encourage and support the cancer patient candidate – but does it always happen …? Hmmm.

People diagnosed with cancer often don't know how to tell their boss they need flexibility

Thank heavens for the internet, at this point – almost invariably the first port of call for anyone seeking info on their rights, their treatment options, clinical outcomes. But what ought to be more widely-known is that there is a publication – just launched, and in its 10th anniversary year – which is available to all, and collates a ton of useful stuff in one comprehensive booklet. Living & Working With Cancer is produced by Cosmetic Executive Women (UK), the beauty industry’s networking organisation, with 1,000 members. The beauty world has of course put plenty of muscle behind raising money for cancer research: come October, buildings are lit up with pink floodlights, pink ribbons flutter through marbled cosmetic halls, and many brands produce special, pinkified limited edition products.

But this booklet’s not about research: it’s about real help, right now. And it’s actually available free to anyone (funded with contributions from big beauty names). It really is packed with jolly useful stuff, from the organisations you might need to contact (ACAS for employment advice), the Equality and Human Rights Commission, cancer charities, the Stepchange Debt Charity (because if you’re off work for more than four days, you may only receive statutory sick pay, and need advice on benefits) – oh, if I went on listing them, this article would become a booklet in itself.

There’s practical advice on dealing with the toll cancer takes physically and emotionally (everything from tips for handling the stress to where to get your eyebrows tattooed back in, or a wig styled) – and much, much more, including tips on getting travel insurance post-cancer diagnosis. (Yet another hurdle friends with cancer have found themselves facing, finding that a bit of post-chemo R&R may be just what the doctor ordered, but the actuaries aren’t so sure …)

I’d better declare a teeny-tiny interest: I did at one point chair CEW (UK) myself, for a few years – but the CEW (UK) Cancer and Careers charity has always been one of the organisation’s proudest spin-offs. And if you – or a colleague, a relative or a friend – is affected by cancer, this is a must-read. Frankly, every office in the land should have one to hand. Because when a woman has a cancer S.O.S., it takes more than tea, sympathy and offering to meet someone’s deadline for them, to help them through.

‘Living and Working with Cancer’ is a free booklet, available by emailing cancerandcareers@cewuk.co.uk